Waking up at Night - Mokena,IL

My son,about 18mths at the time, went through this and when researching night terrors we found that this usually happens to children who are overly tired. We watched this and the nights that he would have this problem were the days that he didn't nap. We really try hard to get him to nap everyday and we haven't had it come up since. Night terrors are scary and they say to just let them work through it and they will go back to sleep on their own. Which also worked for us but was very hard since a person's first instinct is to pick them up and hold them. Hope this is helpful. Good luck

I've not had to deal with this one as much myself (knock on wood!), but have heard quite a few of the moms in my groups talk about this one. It does sound pretty much like night terrors to me too. Most of the moms have simply had to wait it out and just try to soothe the child back to a quiet sleep again.

You mention he is falling alseep at dinner from being so tired - is he still getting a nap during the day at all? I know I'm still making my 4-year-old take his afternoon nap because he turns into a cranky monster in the evening without it. I'm thinking it might help if he caught up on that sleep during the day for now to get rid of that exhaustion and then it might help him sleep better at night too. If he already naps, then maybe his body needs that nap to happen at a different time for it to be more effective? I know my daughter seems to prefer a morning nap and my son is settled into an afternoon nap - it's causing havoc on our chances to go out! - but that seems to be how their bodies want it to be.

J.,
Both my son and daughter have experienced the night night terrors, but I am thinking they were closer to age 3 when it happened. The only thing we found we could do to help them was to actually wake them up to make the terrors stop. It wasn't easy to wake them usually, but if we just took them out of bed and into the bathroom (with the light on) and then made them take a sip a water, they would be able to go back to sleep and not fall right into the bad dreams again. In our house, each child probably had the terrors for like 6-8 months but it wasn't every night and they just seemed to grow out of it. So, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck!

J., I haven't read all of the other posts, but I've experienced this with my (at the time 2 1/2 year old) granddaughter last summer. It does happen because of being over-tired, but it also happens due to a stressful situation in their life, and also can be related to potty training issues. The best things to do are to make sure he's safe when it happens, and don't try to restrain him, don't try to comfort him. Just let it happen. It's scary, but letting it happen is the only thing that you really CAN do. With my granddaughter, after I researched I started to just sit on the floor at the foot of her bed, and when she really woke up, she'd come to me for comfort. Then they started to last maybe 2 minutes instead of 10.

She has them now every once in a while, maybe once every 2 months, if even that much. Last summer when she first came to live with me, she had them frequently, a couple to a few times a week. Her whole world had been turned upside down, and in addition, her baby sister's health wasn't good at all. That was alot for a 2 1/2 year old to handle.

My now 12year old did the same thing when she was 2-3. She'd look awake but was unresponsive and would scream like she was in terrible pain. After a couple of minutes, she'd suddenly stop crying and lie back down.
The doctor said to stick to her nap and bedtime schedules and not let her eat an hour before bed. But none of that really helped.
I think you have to wait it out and have faith that it will end. Good luck!

R.

I am guessing this is definitely night terrors. I would call the dr. asap. I am not sure if they can do anything but I do not that it is just a phase. Good Luck.

Hi J.-

This actually sounds a lot like night terrors. You should talk to the pediatrician but it sure points to that. I just read something recently on night terrors and from what I read, the child does not even know they are having them as they are still sleeping even if their eyes are open while they are screaming. Also, they will have no memory of the events or be able to tell you what they are scared of. It's more traumatic for the parent.

Good luck!
D.

Hello. My daughter does the same thing, but only when she doesnt nap. If she is overtired she will wake up several times during the night crying. If she takes a nap during the day, she is fine and doesnt wake up at all. For me, her afternoon nap is VERY important.

Hi J.,

I recently posted about this myself. My daughter was an excellent sleeper and then one day she woke up screaming like she was in the worst pain but her eyes were open and she seemed to be awake. My pediatrican and the other Mom's here were right that it was night terrors. And it only seemed to happen when she was off her sleep schedule. We have always been pretty regimented about her sleeping schedule but those few times she had the night terrors she either missed her nap or she went to bed much later then normal. Now we just make sure she stays on that sleep schedule and they haven't occured since. He could just be tired. That too would explain the increased tantrums. Try getting him down to bed by 8pm and explain to him that if he won't nap then he has to have at least one hour of quiet time in his room every day. I bet within a couple days he falls asleep during that quiet time.

I know how scary it is to wake up to that horrible screaming from your child so I feel your pain. I hope something helps soon! I would call your ped and see if he/she has further advice.

J., I hate to have to tell you this, but if it is Night Terrors, pretty much the ONLY thing you can do is wait it out. My now almost 4 year old went through this at about 2 1/2 years also. She refused to nap during the day, I would spend up to and 1 1/2 hours trying to get her to sleep and all I succeded in doing was making myself nuts. I adjusted her bed time to 7:00 and at first things went well, she slept soundly through the night. Then one night all heck broke loose. I was beside myself, I thought something was wrong and was ready to run to the ER, when she finally settled down. This went on (quiet regularly) for about 3 months. Then one day it just stopped. I had called her Dr. and he said there was nothing they could do about it. Some kids get them some don't. They don't know why.

I know this doesn't really help. And I wish there was a simple solution. I did find that if I played soothing music in her room at night, they didn't seem as bad. (she didn't sound like someone was killing her and it lasted for less time)

Well, I hope it helps to know that others have gone through this and it does stop just as suddenly as it started.